I feel ashamed of some atheists.
first .. I'm not even atheist, I am agnostic. (but I'm still going to hell.)
There are some situations in which I feel the need to defend religion and its followers from hateful atheists.
Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe, and to worship what they want to worship. There is no rule in any lawbook that says otherwise. You can be Jewish, Buddhist, you can worship the ground, nature, space, or goats. It doesn't matter, you have that right as a citizen. (Now, keep in mind I'm talking about America because I am not sure about other places.)
There are Christians who openly bash and persecute peoples of different religions and cultures. There are Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist people who do the same thing. Pagans and Wiccans, Satanists, and Atheists.
And unfortunately..
There are some atheist people out there who are unforgiving and unrelenting in their bashing and hatefulness towards peoples of any religion.
The one thing I was taught in life were morals and ethics. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Christians preach love for all, and there is a bible verse in which it says (roughly, don't know word for word)"He who gets slapped in one cheek, turn the other and ask no questions, for it is your duty to forgive." I took this to mean that you should let people walk on you. Of course, they don't, and neither does an atheist. Unless that's your personality.
So occasionally, I will meet an atheist whose purpose in life is to be hateful towards Christian people. I feel ashamed of these people. I am, as agnostic, a part of this "disbelieving blasphemous group" and people like those who actively seek to be hateful offend me. Their screams of "GOD ISN'T REAL, YOU'RE A STUPID MORON AND YOU NEED TO JUST KILL YOURSELF AND GO TO YOUR HEAVEN SO THE REST OF US CAN LIVE PEACEFULLY" and etc are offensive to me.
They are the types of atheists that religious people think of when they think of atheists. It is human nature to take a little bit of good and a mouthful of bad, and then complain and bitch and moan about the bad, while ignoring that tiny piece of goodness.
These are the same atheists that scream respect from religious people and tell the religious people they are not following their God's wishes by being angry and spiteful in return.
This comes back to, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Religious people can be just as hateful, but I am not talking about that group, I am talking about OUR group. They should be ashamed of themselves just as much as hateful atheists should be ashamed of theirs.
Sorry this was so long and I hope I don't lose any friends over it. It's just something I was thinking about.
There are some situations in which I feel the need to defend religion and its followers from hateful atheists.
Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe, and to worship what they want to worship. There is no rule in any lawbook that says otherwise. You can be Jewish, Buddhist, you can worship the ground, nature, space, or goats. It doesn't matter, you have that right as a citizen. (Now, keep in mind I'm talking about America because I am not sure about other places.)
There are Christians who openly bash and persecute peoples of different religions and cultures. There are Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist people who do the same thing. Pagans and Wiccans, Satanists, and Atheists.
And unfortunately..
There are some atheist people out there who are unforgiving and unrelenting in their bashing and hatefulness towards peoples of any religion.
The one thing I was taught in life were morals and ethics. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Christians preach love for all, and there is a bible verse in which it says (roughly, don't know word for word)"He who gets slapped in one cheek, turn the other and ask no questions, for it is your duty to forgive." I took this to mean that you should let people walk on you. Of course, they don't, and neither does an atheist. Unless that's your personality.
So occasionally, I will meet an atheist whose purpose in life is to be hateful towards Christian people. I feel ashamed of these people. I am, as agnostic, a part of this "disbelieving blasphemous group" and people like those who actively seek to be hateful offend me. Their screams of "GOD ISN'T REAL, YOU'RE A STUPID MORON AND YOU NEED TO JUST KILL YOURSELF AND GO TO YOUR HEAVEN SO THE REST OF US CAN LIVE PEACEFULLY" and etc are offensive to me.
They are the types of atheists that religious people think of when they think of atheists. It is human nature to take a little bit of good and a mouthful of bad, and then complain and bitch and moan about the bad, while ignoring that tiny piece of goodness.
These are the same atheists that scream respect from religious people and tell the religious people they are not following their God's wishes by being angry and spiteful in return.
This comes back to, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Religious people can be just as hateful, but I am not talking about that group, I am talking about OUR group. They should be ashamed of themselves just as much as hateful atheists should be ashamed of theirs.
Sorry this was so long and I hope I don't lose any friends over it. It's just something I was thinking about.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
Atheists are a diverse group of people. As Dave mentions, there are jerks in every group. Luckily, these type of vitriolic atheists do not seem to be very common from what I have seen.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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That is a shame. I suppose that my experiences in real life are much different, although I have not gone to official meetings or gatherings of atheists with strangers. Most of my friends are ambivalent towards organized religion or view it with outright disdain. The funny thing is, they do not claim to be atheists, pantheists, or anything else for that matter. They may be your perfect atheist because they just don't care to be involved in the discourse at all unless prodded to share their views. They are just living their lives.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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A lot of those people in the middle, are busy with the humdrum of everyday life, and unfortunately, I find many of them don't even start to think about the big questions until they are approaching the end of life. That's why many of them end up going back to religion to face death.
There is a quote attributed to Socrates:"An unexamined life is not worth living!" Unfortunately, I see a lot of everyday, regular people leading unexamined lives. I wouldn't really care what they end up believing, as long as they put some effort into trying to figure out a personal philosophy themselves, instead of just adopting one.
You echo my sentiments. Or my sentiments echo your words. Either way, I am a little dumbfounded that people don't examine these things.
And perhaps the abundance of information so easily available nowadays is the reason we see more thoughtless or inconsiderate atheists?
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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I guess i'm not someone who's going to get to a point where everything has been figured out.
Makes one long for their teenage years, when they did have it all figured out. -
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Permalink Reply by Dave G on -
That's unfortunate, Ralph. I'm sorry that your local atheist group is not more like the ones we have here in Atlanta, where everyone seems to get along pretty well and attendance has been growing rapidly. We had about 40 people at our last meeting, and our biggest complaint lately has been that as crowded as we are, people can't talk to everyone before the meeting ends.
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Permalink Reply by Dave G on
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I agree that the constant presence of religion in daily life here in the South may have a lot of influence in the formation of such groups, although it certainly it not the only one. I was an atheist living here in Atlanta for years before I finally got fed up with the attempts of some religious folk to impose their views on everyone else and started becoming more active.
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Permalink Reply by Chris H on -
I think overall abusive atheists is a rather a small group in comparison with abusive religious folk.
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Permalink Reply by Galen on -
I can be a very peaceful and tolerant person, but I can also be the kind of atheist jerk that you hate. It depends on the individual theist, really. If people can be respectful and peaceful about their own beliefs, then great. But if people are just plain STUPID, then you're damn right I'm going to look down on them and treat them like shit. They deserve no better. Willful ignorance is not something I respect, nor something that I feel is deserving of respect.
To the theist who says "I disagree with you, but it's your choice. God gave free will and it's not my place to tell you what to think, that's between you and God." I have nothing but respect for that person. Live and let live. You believe what you want and I'll still think you're an idiot, but as long as you're not cramming it down my throat, I'll be nice about it.
To the theist who says "YOU'RE GOING TO BURN IN HELL!!! SINNER!!! EVIL ATHEIST SCUM!!!" I have nothing but contempt for that person. As Brandon said, they can all cut their throats open with a spoon and bleed out for all I care. Fuck them. They give no respect and they deserve NONE; not one tiny drop.
So, for me, it all depends on the person. Most theists that I encounter are nice people who wouldn't be assholes to your face and so I have no problem with them. If they want to believe in pink unicorns riding them up to Heaven to meet Elvis, that's their business. If they want ME to believe in it and live as if I did, then screw that!
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Permalink Reply by James A on -
Galen,
That's how I am. I get all these people tweeting me who are like, "your stupid for not believing in Jesus" or "science is just as much a belief as the bible". I don't have patience for them. Their are a few who like to have a nice discussion, but as far as I've noticed, they are just a ignorant as the fundies. Just a little nicer about it.
Every time I bring up facts, they all run away, some with one last "well your just ignorant for not believing". But, they can never answer the facts.
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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Sarah Homan on -
If they want to believe in pink unicorns riding them up to Heaven to meet Elvis, that's their business. If they want ME to believe in it and live as if I did, then screw that!
ROTFLMAO!
Galen, you have such a way with words. :) For the record, I agree with you 200% !
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